As Week One of the official Clinton campaign comes to a close, what have we learned?
A few things:
- Clinton’s Scooby Doo Van trip was a choreographed stunt, borrowed from her Senate campaign.
- Clinton has no interest in meeting “everyday Americans”—except in controlled settings.
- Clinton is avoiding tough questions. And simple questions.
- Clinton’s hypocrisy continues.
- Clinton wants nothing more than a coronation. So does the DNC.
Lesson 1: Clinton’s Scooby Doo Van trip was a choreographed stunt, borrowed from her Senate campaign.
New York, 1999. To win a Senate seat in a state where she never lived, Hillary Clinton needed to seem like a Normal Person. Her campaign-in-waiting had an idea: ditch the limo and ride around New York in a van. That’s what Normal People do, right? To make it Extra Normal, they called it the Mystery Machine, the Scooby-Doo van.
Over fifteen years later, there’s nothing Hillary Clinton needs more than to appear Normal. So she “has” a brilliant idea: Ditch the private jets and ride around in a van, and call it—wait for it—the Scooby Van.
How original. How spontaneous.
The takeaway here: nothing is authentic in Clinton World. Just like the story of her grandparents. Clinton said Wednesday, “All of my grandparents” were immigrants. But Census records show three of her four grandparents were born in the United States.
She’s not even honest about her own family.
It’s all scripted. It’s all for political convenience.
Lesson 2: Clinton has no interest in meeting “everyday Americans”—except in controlled settings.
A presidential candidate and her aide walk into a Chipotle. You can imagine what follows: the presidential candidate greets everyday Americans having lunch and chats up the workers behind the counter. A few customers and workers take photos with the candidate.
That’s what you’d expect. At least from a candidate who is genuinely interested in connecting with people.
But that’s not what we saw from Hillary Clinton, who slipped into a Chipotle incognito. She didn’t bother to chat with anyone or snap a photo with anyone other than the security camera.
What was the matter? Were the diners and workers not “everyday Americans”?
The people Clinton did eventually meet with were pre-screened and selected by the campaign. It’s the campaign equivalent of Wag the Dog.
Lesson 3: Clinton is avoiding tough questions. And simple questions.
Why would Clinton keep the press—and the public—at arm’s length?
Among other reasons, to avoid questions. Questions like,
- Why did you really delete your emails?
- Why didn’t you cooperate with a 2012 Congressional investigation into your emails?
- Do you still consider yourself the ‘most transparent’ person in public life?
- Why won’t the Clinton Foundation stop accepting foreign donations?
- Why did your Senate office pay men more than women?
- What is your signature accomplishment as Secretary of State?
Lesson 4: Clinton’s hypocrisy continues.
Example 1: Clinton’s early fundraising email lamented the pay disparity between CEOs and workers, yet she was recently making 4.4 times the average American’s annual income in a single speech. At up to $300,000 a speech, she made more in 90 minutes than four average workers earn in a year. She also had a famous list of luxurious demands that accompanied the six-figure fee.
Example 2: In Iowa, Clinton called for “tougher regulation for for-profit colleges.” Yet Bill Clinton is the honorary chancellor of the largest for profit college company in the country, Laureate Education Inc.
Example 3: In Iowa, Clinton said we must stop “unaccountable money” in politics. Yet on the same day she spoke, her top brass was in San Francisco courting super PAC donors for the same type of “unaccountable money” she criticized. Some estimate her campaign will cost $2.5 billion. The last time she ran for office, she did a similar thing: she paid lip service to campaign finance reform without doing anything about it.
Example 4: Hillary Clinton claims she can relate to everyday Americans and wants to be their champion. But this is a person who said she was “dead broke” when she owned two houses and had an $8 million book advance.
Read more: gop.com/clintons-hypocrisy-tour/
Lesson 5: Clinton wants nothing more than a coronation. So does the DNC.
The DNC won’t admit it, but the party establishment is ready to crown their inevitable nominee. Republicans, on the other hand, are ready for a real contest with a number of strong candidates.
Team Clinton is prepared to throw anyone who stands in their way under the bus—or, under the Scooby Van.
Earlier this week New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio dared to go so far as not endorsing Clinton’s candidacy before she had officially announced, and Clinton’s allies were quick to say his comments wouldn’t go unnoticed.
Martin O’Malley, a potential challenger lightly criticized her on a Sunday Show, and a prominent Clinton supporter (former Governor Jennifer Granholm) told him to “watch it.”
Political intimidation is just the Clinton Way.
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There’s nothing new about this Clinton campaign. It’s the same old stunts, the same old hypocrisy, and the same old playing by a different set of rules.